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Road Link Between 2 Alpes, La Grave & Serre Chevalier Re-Open Soon

New road will open just in time for the start of the ski season

featured in News & reviews Author Christa Jackson, 2 Alpes Reporter Updated

Road links between 2Alpes, La Grave and Serre Chevalier are set to reopen next weekend, after over eight months of closure and in the nick of time for the busy winter ski season.

Landslide damage to the Tunnel du Chambon on the La Grave side of the dam closed the main RD 1091 last April, forcing residents of La Grave to take to a makeshift ferry service across the lake in a bid to get to work and schools. 2 Alpes lift company staff living on the other side of the tunnel to Italy were offered temporary accommodation in resort until the lifts closed at the end of the month.

Initial hopes of repairing the tunnel and reopening the road, one of the main routes from France into Italy, during the summer were dashed when it became clear that the whole hillside was unstable and could trigger a major landslide into the lake itself.

Work started on a temporary alternative around the opposite bank of the lake at the end of the summer. The road, originally scheduled to open at the end of October, starts from the bottom of the climb to 2 Alpes and skirts the south side of the lake before rejoining the main road at the far end.

Rather than building a new road, the plan was to upgrade the existing forest track already used by hikers and 4x4 vehicles. The resulting route will be a road 5.3km long and 5.5m wide, just about allowing two vehicles to pass. Two short sections will be controlled by traffic lights.

Weekend and peak season access will be restricted to local traffic only, with visitors routed via Gap or the Maurienne and the Frejus tunnel, meaning tour operator transfer coaches attempting the trip from Grenoble or Lyon airports will still be faced with the prospect of a long detour.

Meanwhile, the debate continues as to the best long term solution to an increasingly expensive problem. Businesses in La Grave and the surrounding villages, heavily dependent on tourist access, have suffered this summer. Schoolchildren normally attending college in Bourg d'Oisans have transferred to Briançon, a longer trip over the Col du Lautaret, often difficult in winter conditions.

Plans for repair work to the main road involve a new tunnel nearly a kilometre long, starting half way along the existing gallery, but work will not start before next spring at the earliest, and viability studies are yet to be carried out.